Scarborough shills GE stock on GE-owned MSNBC

Joe Scarborough promoted General Electric stock on MSNBC's Morning Joe without noting that GE is the parent company of NBC Universal, the owner of MSNBC.

On March 24, Joe Scarborough touted General Electric stock on MSNBC's Morning Joe, without noting, as co-host Mika Brzezinski did on a recent show, that GE is the parent company of NBC Universal, the owner of MSNBC. Talking about what he said was the opportunity offered by low house prices, Scarborough stated, "[I]t's like GE stock. ... I never invest in the stock market because I think -- I've always thought -- that it's just -- it's a crap shoot. GE goes down to five, six, or seven, and I'm thinking, 'My god. I'm gonna invest for the first time, and I'm gonna send my kids to college through this.' When you start getting -- you said the animal spirits -- when people say, 'This is just too good of an opportunity to pass up.' " However, Scarborough did not disclose that his network is owned by GE.

Similarly, after noting on the March 18 edition of Morning Joe that the price of GE stock had risen to $10, Scarborough stated that he "could've doubled your money if I would've been smart," adding, "I'll guarantee it's gonna be at 15. ... I have left money on the table. And I'm never in the market. This is a no-brainer." As Scarborough was making his remarks, Brzezinski twice looked at the camera and said, "Parent company."

From the March 18 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

WILLIE GEIST (co-host): Welcome back to Morning Joe. The market was up a healthy 178 points yesterday --

SCARBOROUGH: That's awesome.

GEIST: -- the Dow was. Today, investigators are awaiting an announcement from the Fed, expected to keep interest rates steady.

SCARBOROUGH: By the way, you see GE's at 10 now?

GEIST: Ten bucks.

PAT BUCHANAN (MSNBC political analyst): We talked about buying it at six --

SCARBOROUGH: Seriously, at five, six, I said I'm gonna buy this --

BUCHANAN: Buy it, and I should've bought it.

SCARBOROUGH: I should've bought it. We could've --

BUCHANAN: Exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: -- could've doubled your money if I would've been smart.

BUCHANAN: Exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: I never do stuff like that.

BUCHANAN: That is a 66-percent gain --

SCARBOROUGH: That is --

BUCHANAN: -- in a matter of two weeks.

SCARBOROUGH: And at 10. I'll guarantee it's gonna be at 15 --

BUCHANAN: Sure.

SCARBOROUGH: This is -- I have left money on the table. And I'm never in the market. This is a no-brainer.

BRZEZINSKI: Parent company.

GEIST: If you had a 401(k), you'd have GE stock.

BRZEZINSKI: Parent company.

SCARBOROUGH: God.

GEIST: I've gotta to teach you about that sometime.

From the March 24 edition of Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: Let me talk about my house in Florida. We want to downsize down there because we travel around. It's been on the market for a year. It's on the water. It's the type of house that all my friends in real estate said you will always be able to sell this. One person has looked at it over the past year; in the last week, five people.

THOMAS FRIEDMAN (New York Times columnist): That's a very important leading indicator.

BRZEZINSKI: Interesting.

FRIEDMAN: You know, that is very, very important.

SCARBOROUGH: Out of nowhere.

FRIEDMAN: You get the animal spirits going and -- see, what flips, Joe, is that people say, "This is my last chance to buy Joe Scarborough's house." You know, the market's going to run away --

BRZEZINSKI: Interesting.

FRIEDMAN: -- as opposed to people saying, "Oh, wait another week, Scarborough's house, he'll mark it down again."

SCARBOROUGH: Right.

FRIEDMAN: It's that flip --

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: -- you know, from people thinking "wait another week" to, "If I wait another week I'm gonna lose the chance of a lifetime" --

SCARBOROUGH: Exactly.

FRIEDMAN: -- "to steal Joe's house." That's what you want to happen with the banks as well.

BRZEZINSKI: We need that.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, it's like GE stock. I know we have to go, but it's like GE stock. I never invest in the stock market because I think -- I've always thought -- that it's just -- it's a crap shoot. GE goes down to five, six, or seven --

OFF CAMERA: Buy it.

SCARBOROUGH: -- and I'm thinking, "My God" --

BRZEZINSKI: Maybe.

OFF CAMERA: That's right. Buy it.

SCARBOROUGH: -- "I'm gonna invest for the first time, and I'm gonna send my kids to college through this." When you start getting -- you said the animal spirits -- when people say, "This is just too good of an opportunity to pass up" --

FRIEDMAN: That's right -- exactly. That's how capitalism works.

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: That's -- yeah, exactly.

BARNICLE: You know, there -- excuse me -- oh, yeah.

BRZEZINSKI: Let me get -- let me bring [Washington Post columnist] Eugene [Robinson] in and then you can jump in.

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